Wednesday, October 03, 2007

Lee Minwoo will help to produce Shinhwa's next album Oct 1, '07 9:12 AM



Shinhwa member M Lee Minwoo has transformed himself into a designer, and released his own series of caps “WOLF M”.

This time, Lee Minwoo not only used his name, but also participated in the design of the caps too, becoming a true-blue cap designer. For the design of the logo, he added a image of a wolf on top of his stage name M, which reminds people of Minwoo’s innate ‘wild’ character. This logo is also used for his 3rd album.

Minwoo explains, “The wolf is a loyal animal, the males will stay dedicated to the females. When I see a girl I like, I will show my passion promptly. That’s a common trait, that’s why I like the wolf.”

Why did he choose caps and not other things?

“Everyone needs one, and it’s convenient to use. Whether it’s an artiste or a student, guy or girl, young or old, they’d all like it. I myself like caps very much. I have the confidence to design caps myself, that’s why I set up this brand.” Lee Minwoo is well-known in the entertainment world to be a fashion icon. From elegant European styles to hippie Japanese styles, he has his own interpretations. To create his own style, he reads men’s magazines, studies fashion trends, and travels to Japan and other countries to buy things that are not available in Korea.

The WOLF M brand is created by a combination of his innate fashion sense with his superb drawing skills. Minwoo says that using his own name for the brand is not to gain huge profits. Thus for his first batch of caps, he designed only 1,000 pieces each of 6 designs for limited sale. Even if orders for more than 1,000 caps come in, he will not be producing any more. Prices are set between 10,000 to 20,000 KRW, and is more affordable than other branded caps.

Although it’s affordable, it’s only limited at 1,000 pieces per design. “I want to produce something that everyone can wear but not everyone can have, so that I can increase the value of the brand. But I don’t want to use high prices to make it inaccessible. Anyone can wear it but not everyone can own it, that’s why I had the idea of limited quantities.” His first attempt at producing caps has been very successful, and he also gave his celebrity friends one to two pieces each to drive awareness, so basically the caps have run out of stock. Even so, the strategy of limited quantities will not change.

Even though the sales won’t be massive, the celebrities have also helped to advertise the brand. When MC Yoo Jae Suk went to Japan recently to film MBC’s Infinity Challenge, he was wearing a WOLF M cap, helping to publicize the brand.

Lee Minwoo, who has excellent relationships with members of the entertainment world, has given caps to Yoo Jae Suk, Park Myung Soo, Kang Ho Dong etc He especially had one custom-made for Kang Ho Dong, as the size of his head is particularly big. Lee Minwoo’s thoughtfulness has generated well wishes and support from everyone, wishing him success in his career.

After the 1st phase of sales, Minwoo will be producing beanies and more caps in the 2nd phase in mid October to accommodate the change of the seasons. He says, “ Beanies may seem simple to produce but they will give people a different feel with different colours and materials. I will produce designs that are comfortable and look good.”

Lee Minwoo, who enjoys being busy, may have started his cap business, but he hasn’t forgotten his role as a singer. “No matter what, my basic responsibility is still music. I will participate in the production of Shinhwa’s new album, and I’ve also received an invitation to join the production of Park Jin Young’s new album.

Having released his 3rd solo album not long ago, Lee Minwoo will be releasing the repackaged edition soon. In addition, from October onwards he will also be meeting everyone with new songs and a new stage.

Source: cbs nocutnews&oceans
Chi trans: jojoyu7@shinhwachina
Eng trans : midnightgirl13 @shinhwa.biz

No comments: